DNA confirms remains are of Richard III

Graphics

LEICESTER, England
Until it was discovered beneath a city parking lot last fall, the skeleton had lain unmarked and unmourned for more than 500 years. Friars fearful of those who slew him in battle buried the man in haste, naked and anonymous, without a winding sheet, rings or any personal adornments, in a space so cramped his cloven skull was jammed upright and askew against the head of his shallow grave.

On Monday, experts at the University of Leicester cited DNA test results and other evidence in declaring that the remains were those of Richard III, for centuries the most reviled of English monarchs. But the conclusion, said to have been reached “beyond any reasonable doubt,” promised to achieve much more than an end to the oblivion that has been Richard's fate since his death on Aug. 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, 20 miles from this ancient city in the sheep country of England's East Midlands. The finding may lead to a new historical perspective on the king.

Richard Taylor, the University of Leicester official who served as a coordinator for the project, said the last piece of the puzzle fell into place with DNA findings that became available Sunday, five months after the bones were found.

“We knew then, beyond reasonable doubt, that this was Richard III,” he said. “We're certain now, as certain as you can be of anything in life.”

The team's leading geneticist, Turi King, said that DNA samples taken from two living descendants of Richard III's family provided a match with samples taken from the skeleton found in the ruins. Kevin Schurer, a historian and demographer, tracked down the descendants of Anne of York, Richard III's sister, one of them a London-based, Canadian-born furniture maker, Michael Ibsen, 55, and the other a distant cousin of Ibsen's who has sought anonymity.

King said tests conducted at three laboratories found that their mitochondrial DNA, a genetic element inherited through the maternal line of descent, matched that extracted from the skeleton. She said all three samples belonged to a type that is carried by only 1 to 2 percent of the English population, rare enough to satisfy the researchers – pending more study – that a match had been found.

When she studied the results for the first time, she said, she “went very quiet, then did a little dance around the laboratory.”

Even before the DNA findings came in, team members said, there was other evidence, including confirmation that the body was that of a man in his late 20s or early 30s – Richard was 32 at death – and that a bone analysis showed his high-protein diet had been rich in meat and fish, characteristic of a privileged life at the time.

They also cited the radiocarbon dating of two rib bones that showed that they were those of somebody who died between the years 1455 and 1540. In addition, team members said, the remains showed injuries consistent with accounts of the blows Richard III suffered on the battlefield, and other blows he was likely to have suffered after death from soldiers of the army of Henry Tudor, the Bosworth victor who took over as Henry VII.

The fatal wound, researchers said, was almost certainly a large skull fracture behind the left ear consistent with a blow from a halberd, a weapon with an ax-like head on a long pole, as described by some who witnessed Richard's death.

But perhaps the most conclusive was the deep curvature of the upper spine that the team said showed the remains to be those of a sufferer of a form of scoliosis, a disease that causes the hunchback appearance, with a raised right shoulder, represented in Shakespeare's play.

The church was closed and dismantled after King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, and its location eventually was forgotten by most local residents.

Then last year a team led by University of Leicester archaeologist Richard Buckley identified a possible location, starting with a current map of the general area of the former church and analyzing earlier maps to discover what had changed and not changed. Ground-penetrating radar was used to find the best places to start digging.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.